These low oil prices are here to stay

MONTHLY SALE AND PURCHASE REPORT   5/10/14

By Harry Vafias

At last owners are enjoying some really profitable day rates and firming values especially for capes, VLCC’s, suezmaxes and aframaxes! Moreover the drop in crude oil prices has increased dramatically the demand and people believe that these low oil prices are here to stay!

Lets begin from the new orders front. Dong A agreed with new times to build two newcastlemaxes for $56 mill each while baosteel went to Qingdao beihai for two 180,000 dwt capes costing $52 mill apiece. Noble in JV with OPG UK agreed with cosco to build two 64,000 dwt bulkers costing a firm $28 mill each while lamda exercised an option for one more 38,000 dwt bulker at avic costing $21,5 mill. Samsung announced an order for three 70,000 dwt ice breaking shuttle tankers costing $147 mill each and probably this are for sovcomflot while Hyundai mipo won an order from navigator gas for two 22,000 cbm semi ref ice class LPG ships costing $51 mill apiece. Daewoo announced an order for two LNG ships 175,000 cbm each, the client is probably flex LNG which sold a 43% stake to fredriksen recently!

Lets continue with the 2^nd hand dry transactions. Noble paid $8,3 mill at auction to acquire the ‘cape viewer’ 170,000 dwt built 92 japan while almi paid $21 mill for the ‘bulk leo’ 55,000 dwt built 08 japan 4x30. Arion paid 7,7 mill for the ‘pleiades 68,000 dwr built 97 japan while phoenix paid $14 mill to acquire the ‘sinin’ 52,000 dwt built 05 philippines 4x30 at auction. The ‘blue mckinley’ 180,000 dwt built 11 korea got $45 mill while carval paid $41 mill for the ‘camilla bulker’ 180,000 dwt built 09 korea. Finally the ‘pax phoenix’ 50,000 dwt built 01 japan 4x30 got $11 mill from greeks.

Lets finish off with the 2^nd hand wet transactions. Navios paid $75,5 mill for the ‘synergy queen’ 300,000 dwt built 10 japan while an Iranian outfit bought the ‘amin’ 157,000 dwt built 09 korea at auction for $53,5 mill. The two sisters ‘ravanger  /risanger’ both 46,000 dwt built 2000 korea imo III got $21 mill enbloc while the stainless ‘fairchem colt’ 20,000 dwt built 05 japan got $20 mill from principal maritime. Ridgebury paid $48 mill to acquire enbloc the ‘acs bright / acs brave’ both 105,000 dwt built 03 japan while champion tankers paid $23 mill to acquire enbloc the ‘siteam neptun / siteam jupiter’ both 48,000 dwt built 00 japan, deepwell pumps/coated. The ‘moray’ 65,000 dwt built 00 korea coated got $15 mill, the ‘high light’ 46,000 dwt built 05 japan non imo got $16 mill and the ‘maohi’ 46,000 dwt built 06 korea deepwell pumps got $19 mill.